Speedmaster XL 106 with a speed of 18,000 sheets per hour in perfecting mode successfully established on the market for one year
12/14/2012
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Press scores highly with customers for top productivity and
excellent availability
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New: Speedmaster XL 106-P+L - perfecting and coating in a
single pass at 18,000 sheets per hour
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Initial users have already placed follow-up orders for
further presses
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Customers value range of configurations and applications
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Commercial and packaging printers report productivity
increases of 20 to 30 percent
The Speedmaster XL 106 with a speed of 18,000 sheets per hour in
perfecting mode has been successfully established on the market for
one year. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has already
sold over 35 of its flagship presses in the Peak Performance class.
The Speedmaster XL 106 was premiered at drupa 2012 and immediately
became a bestseller, especially among highly industrialized
commercial printers producing over 40 million sheets or more a
year. But the press was also very well received by packaging
printers who can benefit, for example, from the machine's
productivity of 18,000 sheets per hour with one- or two-color
reverse-side printing. The Speedmaster XL 106-P+L, which can
perform coating after perfecting in a single pass, with a speed of
18,000 sheets per hour, will be available in series as of mid of
2013. Thanks to the increased speed of 18,000 sheets per hour, the
press is equipped with an optimized delivery with a longer drying
section and this enables the sheets to pass directly from the
delivery to postpress. The first press will be shipped in the first
half of 2013 and further orders for this press model have already
been received. This configuration is particularly interesting for
U.S. customers, as not only 4/4 jobs are requested, but also 20 to
30 percent of jobs there are printed using multicolor printing and
coated in straight mode.
The Speedmaster XL 106 therefore offers the broadest range of
configurations in the 70 x 100 cm (27.56 x 39.37 in) format. It
extends from two to 19 units, with or without perfecting. As a
customized press, it is available as an L-P-L configuration
(coating unit before and after sheet reversal), as a Duo press with
flexographic printing units before the offset units, or as a rotary
die cutter for products such as inmold labels. In the LPL version,
the front and reverse sides of the sheet are printed and coated in
a single pass, the sheet arrives on the pile completely dry, and
can be passed on directly to postpress. This delivers productivity
30 to 40 percent higher than for a straight press.
Technologically leading press and unrivaled productive
The Speedmaster XL 106 impresses with its high
productivity thanks to the interplay of preset functions, color
presettings, simultaneous plate changing with AutoPlate XL, Prinect
Inpress Control, and extremely straightforward operation. The
operator only needs to enter the length, width, and thickness of
the substrate - the format and air settings are handled by the
press. Initial users have praised its high availability and stable
sheet travel, which are maintained even at maximum speeds thanks to
a new perfecting and delivery concept and an adapted sheet control
system. Operating at 18,000 sheets per hour in both straight and
perfecting modes, the Speedmaster XL 106 achieves maximum
productivity and processes a wide range of substrates up to 0.8 mm
(0.031 in) thick in perfecting mode. It can therefore process
everything from inmold foils to kraft board. With the 75 x 106 cm
(29.53 x 41.73 in) sheet format, the maximum print format of 73 x
105 cm (28.74 x 41.34 in) in perfecting mode can now be used in its
entirety, which means a larger die-cutting border for packaging
printers and more repeats per sheet for gang forms in web-to-print.
Initial users are impressed by the versatility and flexibility of
the press and are already ordering further presses that they can
then use to streamline their operations and achieve lean
production.
Commercial and packaging printers value top productivity
One of the first users of the perfector with 18,000
sheets per hour is Sterling, a print shop in Kettering in the UK.
It has been using a ten-color press with CutStar, AutoPlate
Advanced, and Prinect Inpress Control with a speed of 18,000 sheets
per hour in perfecting mode since the end of 2011. Over 200
employees produce high-quality commercial products for customers
from industry, public administration, and educational
establishments. The average run per job is around 13,000 sheets.
"We are impressed with the stability and excellent quality of
the Speedmaster XL," explains Steve Pizzey, who manages the
company with his brother John. "We have increased our
productivity by over 20 percent and can therefore process more jobs
in a shorter time, which gives us a clear competitive edge."
All the equipment at the full-service print shop is integrated into
the Prinect workflow.
Shortest makeready times for fast job changes
Since the start of 2012, Aumüller Druck in Germany
has also been using a Speedmaster XL 106 eight-color perfecting
press with Prinect Inpress Control and AutoPlate XL to print
high-end commercial work in short runs of between 200 and 10,000
sheets. "The press has passed the test phase with flying
colors, with the automatic plate changing and Prinect Inpress
Control, which controls color and register accuracy on the fly,
cutting makeready times dramatically," explains Stefan
Aumüller, who manages the business with his brother Christian.
"Turnaround times are noticeably shorter as, with net output
of 17,000 sheets per hour, our productivity is around 20 percent
higher than before, even for short runs."
Interplay of productivity and sustainable printing
The Anton Group, a UK commercial print shop, had already
placed an order with Heidelberg for three Speedmaster XL 106
presses in the run-up to drupa 2012 - two ten-color presses and one
twelve-color and all three long perfecting presses with a speed of
18,000 sheets per hour. The company expects to make full use of the
press's productivity, printing at least 75 million sheets per
year and per machine, each of which is equipped with the CutStar
sheeter, Prinect Inpress Control, and in some cases AutoPlate XL.
This target appears realistic, as the first press - a Speedmaster
XL 106 ten-color installed recently - produced over ten million
sheets in just the first seven weeks. "On today's fiercely
contested market, print prices are keen, and we need to work
productively and efficiently to remain profitable and safeguard
jobs," says company boss John Knight. The Anton Group is also
using the new presses to put ecological printing into practice. All
three presses run alcohol free, require less energy, and cut paper
waste significantly thanks to Prinect Inpress Control.
Packaging printer cuts material costs substantially
Heidelberg received numerous orders at drupa from major
print shops. The display press - a Speedmaster XL 106 six-color
with dual coating unit - is now up and running at colordruck
Baiersbronn, one of the leading suppliers of folding carton
packaging in Europe. colordruck is committed to ecological print
production. In this regard, the Speedmaster XL 106 can boast fast
makeready times and rapid inking-up, both of which help make
further significant reductions in material consumption. As with all
the other machines in the colordruck pressroom, the new Speedmaster
XL 106 was also ordered on a carbon-neutral basis.
Configurations optimized to customer needs
rlc packaging group, headquartered in Switzerland and a
specialist supplier of innovative folding cartons throughout
Europe, has also invested in a Speedmaster XL 106. The eight-color
press with three coating units and a triple-length delivery was
recently taken into operation and is used primarily to produce
confectionery packaging. Further presses of this type are to follow
in various configurations.
To continue to meet its customers' growing requirements
in the future, Jordanian print shop Central Press has invested in a
Speedmaster XL 106 five-color press with coating unit. In addition
to books, it is also intended to produce high-quality magazines,
calendars, brochures, posters, and business stationery in high
quality and with minimal delivery times.
Figure 1:
The Speedmaster XL 106 with a speed of 18,000 sheets per
hour in perfecting mode has been successfully established on the
market for a year. It was premiered at drupa 2012 and immediately
became a bestseller, especially among highly industrialized
commercial printers but also packaging printers.
Figure 2:
With the Speedmaster XL, John (left) and Steve Pizzey,
owners of UK print shop Sterling, have been able to increase their
productivity by over 20 percent, process more jobs in a shorter
time, and thus create a clear competitive advantage for themselves.
Figure 3:
Stefan Aumüller (right) and his brother Christian
use a Speedmaster XL 106 at Aumüller Druck primarily to print
high-end commercial work in short runs of between 250 and 2,000
sheets. Minimal makeready times are ensured with Prinect Inpress
Control and AutoPlate XL.
Figure 4:
Sealing the deal for three Speedmaster XL 106 presses -
(top row, left to right) Barry Knight, John Knight, Martin Mainka
and Karl-Heinz Dittmann from Heidelberg, and Steve Knight. Bottom
row from left to right - Gary Knight, Gerard Heanue, Managing
Director of Heidelberg UK, and Danny Francis, Heidelberg UK. The
first press produced over ten million sheets in just seven weeks.
For additional details about the company and image material,
please visit the Press Lounge of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG at
www.heidelberg.com.
For further information, please contact:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Public Relations
Hilde Weisser
Phone: +49 (0)6221 92-5066
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92-5069
E-mail:
hilde.weisser@heidelberg.com
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